Mailinglist Archive: opensuse (3182 mails)

Re: [opensuse] Why I don't upgrade often

From:
John Andersen <jsa@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>

Date:
Fri, 16 Mar 2007 08:05:11 -0900

Message-id:
<200703160905.20174.jsa@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>

On Friday 16 March 2007, Hartmut Meyer wrote:
> But then you're not really talking about old/unsupported versions anymore.
> Instead you're talking about something that started as - say - 8.1 but by
> now has hardly any resemblance to that version anymore. Simply because you
> kept updating all sensitive components for yourself (requiring more time
> and expertise than most users will have).

Well, I don't see it that way.

The vast overwhelming majority of the entire system can remain as
it was on the day of the last update. You might have to update
one or two packages over time span of several years. One or two.

For a a linux box used as router, or a samba server, you would be highly
unlikely to ever have to update anything for the life of the hardware.

Last year, I replaced a server for a company. It was running Suse 7.3
as a samba server and was acting as a router for their local network.
This was pretty much a single mission box, with raid drives
and lived on a huge UPS its entire life.

The only problem that machine ever had was when they finally
filled up the hard drive and upgraded to get more space.

Would I do this with a desktop machine? No.
I would update the system. But more to obtain new functionality
than out of fear of any compromise just because it was out of
maintenance.

The best server operations team is a Man and a German Shepard Dog.
The man is there to feed the dog, and the dog is there to make sure
the man never touches the machine.